Propulsion arrangement for merchant ship



April 21, 1964 w. PENNEY PROPULSION ARRANGEMENT FOR MERCHANT SHIP 3Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 13, 1961 am 3 we INVENTOR A/ormcm h. Penney BYm, .9 {M ATTORNEYS April 21, 1964 N. W. PENNEY 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 7 FUELINVENTOR Narrrzcm W Permg ATTORNEYS April 21, 1964 w. PENNEY PROPULSIONARRANGEMENT FOR MERCHANT SHIP Filed Dec.

3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR Norman #14 Para/2g BY 2 M KTTORNEYJ UnitedStates Patent 3,129,682 PRQPULSION ANGEMENT FOR MERCHANT SHHI Norman W.Penney, Ridgewood, N.J., assignor to John J.

McMullen Associates, Inc, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New YorkFiled Dec. 13, 1961, Ser. No. 158,987 1 Claim. (Cl. 114-65) Thisinvention relates to the combination of a novel propulsion arrangementand a merchant ship wherein an open cycle type gas turbine mainpropulsion uni-t is positioned in a lower portion of the ship in amanner to enable the gas turbine unit to be readily extracted from theship and replaced on scheduled occasions. Moreover, the use of space inthe lower portion of the ship makes available more and better cubicspace for storage of cargo.

At the present time, the machinery spaces on merchant ships are arrangedwith the main propulsion and auxiliaries located in the same generalspace. Also, usually, above the engine spaces are locatedaccommodations, quarters and/or deckhouses. Because of this generalconvenience it is necessary either to cut a hole in the side of the shipor the engine room bulkheads, and in both cases, it is necessary toremove piping, wiring, etc., if it becomes necessary to remove largeitems of equipment or machinery. Alternatively, it would be necessary todismantle the machinery in the engine room completely and remove itpiece by piece through existing openings. In short, the access is verypoor. This does not, however, cause too much practical difiiculty as thenumber of occasions when it is necessary to make such removals islimited due to the nature of the machinery and equipment which are used.More frequently, repairs are made on board the ship even though thismeans loss of time. Further, the machinery and personnel facilities areusually located in the after portion of the ship merely by constructingthe ship with an after appendage that does not contribute to thestructural strength of the ship. That is to say, the main longitudinalbulkheads terminate forward of the machinery space due to the nature anddesign of the after appendage.

To overcome the drawbacks inherent in currently used propulsionarrangements, the present invention provides a novel ship propulsionconcept based on the principle of readily extractable and replaceablepropulsion units whereby the down time of the ship is relatively shortand the cost of replacing a propulsion unit is relatively small. In thisway all repairs and machinery overhauls can be carried out at a wellequipped shore installation without delaying the use of the ship. Also,and equally important, the present invention provides a novel shipdesign in conjunction with the novel propulsion arrangement whereby thegirder system for the ship extends the entire length of the ship evenincluding the after portion which houses the propulsion unit. Thus, theafter portion does not function merely as an appendage, but actuallycontributes to the overall structural quality of the ship.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a novel andunique combination of a merchant ship and propulsion arrangementtherefor utilizing an open cycle type gas turbine main propulsion unitand mounting same in a compartment of the ship located partially underthe after hold of the ship. Further, the after hold is designed with areadily removable deck section or large hatch closing the top of thecompartment housing the propulsion unit which section or hatch isdimensioned to enable the gas turbine unit to be removed from the shipin toto through the after hold.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a novelcombination of merchant ship and propulsion unit 3,129,682 Patented Apr.21, 1964 whereby the propulsion unit is arranged in a lower afterportion of the ship between two main fore and aft bulkheads which areintegral parts of the girder system for the ship which extends thelength of the ship to impart the same structural quality to the afterpart of the ship as present .in forward parts of the ship.

Other and further objects of the invention will become more fullyevident from the following detailed description of a preferredembodiment of the invention when taken in conjunction with the figuresof the drawing in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation partly in section of a seagoing vessel;

FIGURE 2 is a view in section taken along line 2-2 of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 3 is a view in section taken along line 3-3 of FIGURE 2.

Referring now to the drawings, a preferred embodiment of the inventionis shown together with the best mode for carrying out the invention. Atypical merchant ship is shown in section in FIGURE 1 having six cargoholds 1-6 arranged lengthwise of the ship. The usual screw propeller 8is positioned at the stern of the ship on the end of drive shaft 10. Thecustomary bearings and supports mount shaft 10. A compartment 12 isdefined by the ship adjacent its stern and partially below the aftercargo hold 6. The bottom of the after cargo hold 6 is provided with arelatively large removable deck section or hatch 14.

A pair of main structural bulkheads 16 and 18 extend lengthwise of theship and form integral parts of the girder system of the ship which, inthe embodiment of this invention, extends the length of the ship frombow to stem. The compartment 12 is defined between bulkheads 16 and 18,a forward engine room bulkhead 20 and an after engine room bulkhead 22.The lowest deck 24 of the ship extends substantially the full lengththereof and is spaced above the ship bottom to define the bilges. Withincompartment 12, a pair of rails 26 and 28 are attached to deck 24 andextend in spaced relation substantially parallel with the long axis ofthe ship. A series of apertured lesser bulkheads 30 to give desiredstructural rigidity are attached to main bulkheads 16 and 1-8 and rails26 and 28 transversely of the ship. A super deck structure 32 isattached to each side of compartment 12 supported by rails 26 and 28,bulkheads 30 and main bulkheads 16 and 18. The bulkheads 30, in thespace between rails 26 and 28, are cut out as indicated at '34.

The ship machinery is mounted on a suitable beam frame 40 to enable itto be removed en masse from compartment 12. The frame 40 consists ofspaced parallel beams 42 and 44 interconnected by suitable means to forma rigid frame support for the ship machinery. The beams 42 and 44 aredetachably bolted to the rails 26 and 28 as indicated by reference 50.

The power machinery for the ship is constituted principally of an opencycle gas turbine power plant all parts of which are supported ormounted on frame 40 so that the entire power plant can be readilyremoved and replaced merely by detaching frame 40 from rails 26 and 28.The power plant consists of an axial flow compressor 60 driving acompressor turbine 62 by shaft 64. Air entering compressor 60 ispressurized and leaves the compressor outlet by tubing '66 whichconnects with a series of circumferentially arranged combustion chambers68. Fuel from a suitable source is directed to chambers 68 by tubing 70and is injected into the chambers 68 by nozzles 72. The chambers 68include suitable firing means (not shown) to cause the fuel to burn andproduce gaseous by-products. The exhaust from the chambers 68 isdirected by tubing 74 to the inlet of turbine 62 for the initialexpansion stage. The exhaust from turbine 62 is connected by tubing 76to the inlet of main power turbine 30 for the main power expansionstage. The exhaust from turbine 80 is directed by tubing 82 through theafter bulkhead 22 and to a heat exchanger 84 mounted on an upper deckand slightly aft of the engine room compartment 12. The heat exchanger84 may be a conventional waste heat boiler. The exhaust from the heatexchanger 84 is connected to a stack 86 which extends vertically andterminates above the highest point of the ship.

Air for the compressor 60 is taken in through a grating 90 located onthe main deck of the ship at the mouth of a duct 92 which connects withthe top of compartment 12.

The power from turbine 80 is fed through the turbine shaft 100 andcoupling 102 to shaft 104 which projects through the after bulkhead 22.Shaft 104 is the input to reduction gearing 106, the output of which iscoupled by means 108 to the drive shaft upon which screw propeller 8 isfixed.

As evident from the foregoing, the power machinery for the ship is allcontained on a frame 40 which can readily be detached from rails 26 and28 and removed from compartment 12 through the hatchway in the bottom ofNo. 6 cargo hold. A new power assembly on a frame like frame 40 canreadily be introduced into compartment 12 in the same manner and itsframe attached to rails 26 and 28. The only connections necessary to bebroken and made in this replacement are fuel tubes 70, exhaust tube 82and coupling 102.

Thus, the power machinery is arranged as a unitary package having theminimum number of external connections whereby it can be operativelyconnected and disconnected in the shortest possible time. The section orhatch 14 is dimensioned to enable the propulsion machinery to be liftedout of compartment 12 and removed from the ship by Way of after cargohold 6. Hence, instead of relying upon repair and maintenance ofindividual components of the propulsion machinery as is required usingpropulsion schemes currently in vogue, the entire propulsion machinerycan be extracted and replaced on scheduled occasions or whenevernecessary.

The location of the propulsion machinery in compartment 12 has severalother advantages, namely, increased available dead weight and cubicspace because the size of the gas turbine arrangement is not onlysignificantly less than other types of propulsion schemes, butcompartment 12 is in an area of the ship which is not too suitable forcargo because of the fineness of the ship. Also, the location andconfiguration of the gas turbine unit permits the continuation of thelongitudinal structure of the ship, the girder system, directly into thestern framing of the ship. Usually, this -is not possible because of theengine room space requirements necessitating that the engine room extendthe full breadth of the ship.

Although the present invention has been shown and described in terms ofa specific embodiment, nevertheless, various changes and modificationswill occur to one skilled in the art which do not depart from theinventive con cepts herein taught. Accordingly, such changes andmodifications are deemed to come Within the spirit, scope andcontemplation of the present invention.

What is claimed is:

The combination comprising a merchant ship characterized by a pair ofmain structural bulkheads extending fore and aft in the ship from how tostern and forming an integral part of the girder system of the ship,means cooperating with said pair of main structural bulkheads defining aplurality of cargo holds arranged fore and aft in the ship, a driveshaft protuding from the stern of the ship, a propeller mounted on theprotruding portion of said drive shaft, a compartment defined betweensaid pair of main structural bulkheads and located partially below theafter cargo hold of the ship, a first frame support fixed to the bottomof said compartment, said first frame comprising a pair of parallelspaced rails extending along the longitudinal axis of the ship and aplurality of apertured, lesser bulkheads extending transversely to saidrails and mounted between said main structural bulkheads, a propulsionsystem composed of a second frame support, and compressor means,combustion chamber means and turbine means operatively interconnectedand all mounted on said second frame support, means detachably securingsaid second frame support on said first frame support, means operativelydisengageably connecting the output of said turbine means to said driveshaft, and removable means defining in common a portion of the floor ofsaid after cargo hold and the top of said compartment which when removeddefines an opening large enough to enable said entire propulsion systemto be extracted from the ship as a unit through the after cargo hold.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS919,343 Gibbons Apr. 27, 1909 1,431,924 Beebee Oct. 17, 1922 1,443,368Lamblin Ian. 30, 1923 1,542,165 Oechsle June 16, 1925 2,632,997 HowardMar. 31, 1953 2,640,317 Fentress June 2, 1953 2,663,141 Hage Dec. 22,1953 2,912,824 Van Nest Nov. 17, 1959 2,914,918 Kaplan Dec. 1, 19593,019,757 Bailey Feb. 6, 1962 FOREIGN PATENTS 4,400 Great Britain 1905595,945 Great Britain Dec. 23, 1947

